Discovering a Problem

It was another sleepy afternoon, but Darius was efficiently dealing with his tasks for the full moon banquet while Dylan was sleeping. He had already made a schedule as to how he could use his time here on the estate. Since he was designated pack mother, he handled a lot of domestics… almost double of what he did when he was still the Alpha.

When he was walking along the garden, he saw how Adrian was practicing with his bicycle. The boy had a very serious face, unlike the others who were having fun with the toys. These were better than playing in the playground dominated by the Gammas.

A smile was on Darius's face, even if he knew that Adrian was seeing this as a challenge. It was because when he saw someone almost falling over, he would race over and catch them. Most of the time, those would be the smaller kids that would be needing help from him.

At the side was Megan, who was sticking to the older Omega child. Since he was older than them, he was in a different class than the smaller ones. It was like the classes were divided between preschool and primary school. Since he was older, he had 'homework' after their classes. At the moment, he was sitting under the shade instead of playing with the bikes.

"Eh? How could that be fifteen? Daddy said you have to take four away when it said minus four…" Megan twitched and pouted in her seat before Mabel grew a little embarrassed as he erased something on his notebook.

"That's a nine, Megan. I should have written it clearer."

"Oh… then, it is fifteen! Hehe, Mabel is very smart!" Megan clapped as she grinned widely at him. The older kid blushed a little and rubbed his nose.

Darius stared at the scene and wondered a little. It wasn't that he didn't like what he was seeing, but… wouldn't it be too early? Then again, he could be reading wrongly. What did he know about things like that, anyway? He just opted to take a turn to leave them to their own businesses.

However, Megan spotted him and called out to him. She quickly got up from her seat and ran to her daddy. When Darius turned to face her, she hugged his legs. "Daddy! Daddy! Do you know Mabel? I'm going to introduce you to my friend!"

"Hm, okay." Darius only had a smile as he was dragged by Megan by the hand. He arrived at where Mabel frantically got to his feet and greeted the Second Master. When he spoke, most of the kids also slowed down to a stop and echoed the oldest kid among them.

"Daddy, Daddy! Mabel said he's doing Math homework! Will I get Math homework, too?" Megan started to jump up and down again, only stopping when Darius patted her head.

"In the future, when you're taking the same classes as he is. Can I see it?" Darius chuckled at Megan before asking for the notebook. Since it was just fundamental operations on integers, Darius didn't need to be a genius to check if the answers were correct. "Hey, how amazing. You got it all right."

"T-Thank you, Second Master…" Mabel received the notebook again and kept his eyes low. They were slowly being reminded about the proper actions of an Omega. However, he couldn't help but look up at Megan's father figure. The rumors didn't escape his ears as well.

At that gaze, Darius lifted his brows. "What is it?"

The boy just shook his head and kept his head down again. "N-Nothing, Second Master."

In the end, he kept the questions to himself. He glanced at Megan, who was tilting her head to the side before smiling at her a little. Remembering that he should do his other homework, he slowly looked up at Darius. "Second Master, if you don't mind me sitting down now. I have more homework to finish."

"Hm, sure. Go finish them and then play with Megan later." Darius reached out to pat the boy and then Megan, who started to jump up and down again. Then, he left their side of the garden after patting Adrian's head shortly. These little people had their own businesses to attend to.

When he got inside the estate again, he walked to his room to get a change of clothes. He had been going around a lot again, and he had yet to freshen his own body. However, when he took the corner, he saw Nicholai speaking with Millicent. They had serious looks on their faces as if they were discussing something very important.

It's just that when Millicent spotted Darius, she quickly asked to be excused. She then left as if his presence was a hindrance to their conversation. The father only wore a sour face before proceeding. After all, his destination was just behind Nicholai.

"Darius, have you done much of the preparation for the banquet?" Nicholai strode closer to the other Alpha when Darius continued to walk without trying to meet his eyes. He even made a side-step to block Darius. "I thought you'd like to come with me for a moment."

"Hm? Where are we going?" Darius didn't want to go, but he wanted to escape the house for a few hours. Everywhere he went earlier, the Omegas were chasing him for the things that needed to be done for the banquet. "I hope this is a serious thing, or else I'll kick you."

"Don't be disappointed. It's about the Gammas training in the mountains. I discovered a problem, so I wished to see the Chief as soon as possible. Would you like to come with me?" Nicholai didn't wear a smile when he spoke. This made Darius frown.

The father then rubbed his neck. "I would since it sounds serious. Let's just bring the kids on a camping trip some other time. Are we leaving already? I want to shower first."

Nicholai only stared at him a little longer than necessary before trying to step into his personal space. Darius didn't wait for him and grabbed the Alpha's face with his hand. "Bastard, don't try to sniff me. Which is it? Are we going now or what?"

"I'll wait for you at the parking garage. Please take your shower." Nicholai laughed before stepping away from the other. "You only have thirty minutes, so please make haste. No need to wear perfume; I like your scent as it is."

"So, what if I like wearing expensive perfume? You even bought that for me—whatever! Don't leave without me!" Darius couldn't recover from the slip of his tongue. He just chose to run away.

"You like expensive perfume, huh… but that's also the one I use from time to time. Does he like such luxuries?" Nicholai only watched the man race out of sight. The Alpha then turned behind him and found Sancho by the corner. He recognized this one as the servant sticking around Darius. "You, prepare clothes for your Second Master. Walk him to the parking garage right after."